“To examine this, Vu and colleagues analyzed findings from participants the Chicago Healthy Aging study, a subset of the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project, which enrolled 39,565 participants from Chicago workplaces who were 18 to 74 during 1967–1973.

The researchers had complete data from 1325 men and women who were examined at baseline and again from 2007 to 2010.

The three measures of physical performance at follow-up were: hand-grip strength, 4-m walking speed, and the SPPB score—a composite score of 4-m walking speed, time to rise from a seated position, and standing balance, for a total score of 0 (worst) to 12 (best).

The participants were classed into six groups depending on their baseline BMI and change in weight after 39 years:

At follow-up, 10.3% of the participants had a low SPPB score (≤8); 8.4% had slow walking speed (<0.8 m/s on a 4-m course); and 23.8% had low sex-specific handgrip strength (<18 kg for women and <30 kg for men).

Compared with participants with a normal initial BMI and minimal weight change at the follow-up examination, those who were initially overweight and had gained the most weight (>20 pounds) were significantly more likely to have a low SPPB score, a slow walking speed, or low sex-specific handgrip strength (odds ratios 4.55, 4.58, and 1.86, respectively, after adjustment for sex, race, initial cardiovascular disease risk factors, and current age, education, ankle-brachial index, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, smoking status, diabetes, cholesterol, and blood-pressure medication use).

Similarly, compared with the reference group, those who were initially overweight or obese and lost less than 10 pounds or gained up to 20 pounds were significantly more likely to have a low SPPB score or a low sex-specific handgrip strength (ORs 2.11 and 1.59, respectively)”

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Bottom line is:

We better shape up and invest in our health for a better physical well being when old age comes!!!!

Trending lately are articles on how sitting for almost the entire day can be harmful to health. The latest issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, reports how the bad effects of sitting can affect health and how these effects are not be “reversed” by physical activity….

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Background: The magnitude, consistency, and manner of association between sedentary time and outcomes independent of physical activity remain unclear.

Purpose: To quantify the association between sedentary time and hospitalizations, all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer in adults independent of physical activity.

Data Sources: English-language studies in MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar databases were searched through August 2014 with hand-searching of in-text citations and no publication date limitations.

Take note however, that the deleterious effects of prolonged sitting time on health from watching TV, working in our office overtime, are more pronounced among those who do little or no exercise than among those who exercise regularly.

It is therefore advised to take breaks by standing and walking few minutes for every hour of sitting.

Stress and weight gain? Yes they are closely associated. Recently published data from the Biological Psychiatry has closely examined the relationship.

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BackgroundDepression and stress promote obesity. This study addressed the impact of daily stressors and a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) on obesity-related metabolic responses to high-fat meals.

MethodsThis double-blind, randomized, crossover study included serial assessments of resting energy expenditure (REE), fat and carbohydrate oxidation, triglycerides, cortisol, insulin, and glucose before and after two high-fat meals. During two separate 9.5-hour admissions, 58 healthy women (38 breast cancer survivors and 20 demographically similar control subjects), mean age 53.1 years, received either a high saturated fat meal or a high oleic sunflower oil meal. Prior day stressors were assessed by the Daily Inventory of Stressful Events.

ResultsGreater numbers of stressors were associated with lower postmeal REE (p = .008), lower fat oxidation (p = .04), and higher insulin (p = .01), with nonsignificant effects for cortisol and glucose. Women with prior MDD had higher cortisol (p = .008) and higher fat oxidation (p = .004), without significant effects for REE, insulin, and glucose. Women with a depression history who also had more stressors had a higher peak triglyceride response than other participants (p = .01). The only difference between meals was higher postprandial glucose following sunflower oil compared with saturated fat (p = .03).

ConclusionsThe cumulative 6-hour difference between one prior day stressor and no stressors translates into 435 kJ, a difference that could add almost 11 pounds per year. These findings illustrate how stress and depression alter metabolic responses to high-fat meals in ways that promote obesity.

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Stress indeed can bring about eating the wrong choice of food. Almost always we can’t avoid stress BUT we can do something about it to avoid stress induced weight gain.

It has always been my recommendation to my patients that one way to avert the temptation of eating wrong foods is to stock our pantry and refrigerator with foods that are healthy like fruits or nuts so one can prepare healthy food choices instead.